Combined shoe tree and drier



June 30, 1925. 1,543,828

A. G. DOYLE COMBINED SHOE TREE AND DRIER Filed June 26, 1922 2Sheets-Sheet l June 30, 192 5.

A, G. DOYLE COMBINED SHOE-TREE AND DRIER Filed June 26,. 192.2 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 30, 192 5.

PATENT OFFICE.

PANN G. DOYLE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED SHOE TREE AND DRIER.

Application filed June 26, 1922. Serial No. 571,006.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANN G. DOYLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Shoe Trees 'andDriers.

The invention relates to shoe trees having means within the tree forproducing heat to expedite the drying of a shoe placed upon the tree.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a shoe tree havingheating means tperewithin to expedite the drying of a s me.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter stated that will be light, eflicient and durable and one thatwill be economical of manufacture.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription which is directed to the preferred embodiment thereof,reference being had to the accompany.- ing drawing which forms a part ofthe specification, the features of novelty being pointed out moreparticularly in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is illustrated as applied toa combined drier form and shoe tree.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view partly in section of a shoe tree with theinvention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a top plan vie-w of a shoe tree with the top section removedto more clearly show the invention as applied thereto.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1with a portion thereof broken away and showing the device in flexedposition in dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the upper part of the ankle portion ofthe shoe tree with the lower portion thereof broken away showing theconnecting cable introduced into the device through the handle thereof.

Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the severalviews of the drawings.

In the construction of the improved drier form comprisinga shoe tree thebody portion thereof is made of two pivotall related hollow sectionsindicated generally by the reference characters A and B. The sections Aand B are preferably made of comparatively thin aluminum, although anyother suitable material may be employed and the device may be eithermolded or stampedfrom thin sheets of the metal of which it is made.

Reference character 10 indicates a plate made of asbestos, mica or anyother suitable insulating material and which is secured to the bottomwall 11 of the section B by bolts 12 which are screw threaded adjacenttheir lower ends adapting them to have screw threaded engagement withthe bottom wall 11 of section B. Hollow spacing and insulating members13, 1 1 and 15 through which bolts 12 pass are provided for spacing andinsulating resistance wire 16 from the bottom wall 11 of section B.Insulating plate 10 extends from insulating member 13 to insulatingmember 15 and has wound V therearound a resistance wire 16. Insulatingplate 17 which like insulating plate 10, may be of asbestos, mica or anysuitable insulating material, is secured to the bottom wall 18 ofsection A by bolts 19 which are screw threaded adjacent their lower endsfor screw threaded engagement with the bottom wall 18 of section A.Hollow spacing members 20, 21 made of any suitable insulating materialare provided for spacing and insulating resistance Wire 22 from thebottom plate 18 of section A and through which members bolts 19 pass.Insulating plate 17 extends from insulating member 20 to insulatingmember 21. The respectiveends of resistance wire 16 in section B areconnected with the respective ends of resistance wire 22 in section A ofthe shoe treeby yielding current conducting members 23 and 24 which aremade in the form of helical springs of any suitable electric currentconducting material, the connections being indicated by referencecharacters 25, 26, 27 and 28. Section B is bifurcated at its inner endto co-operatively receive the reduced inner end portion 29 of section Abetween ears 30 and 31 of section B. Ears 30, 31 have apertures 32, 33therethrough which are adapted to register with apertures 35, 36 throughthe walls of the reduced portion 29 of section A and receive pivotal pin37 therethrough which pin in the drawings is shown as a cotter pinalthough any other suitable form of pivotal member may be employed. Ear30 is recessed as at 38 for the reception therein of the head of cotterpin 37 in order that the head of the cotter pin may lie flush with theouter face of the wall of the ear, while ear 31 has a substantiallyV-shaped recess 39 to provide for the spreading of the ends of thecotter pin at a point inside of the face of the ear. By this arrangementthe opened ends of the hollow sections are positioned adjacent eachother so that the sections are in communication with each other therebyheating the entire shoe tree evenly throughout. Gonductor rods a0, 41pass downwardly through section A forming. the ankle portion of the shoetree and are connected to resistance wire 22 as at a2. The upper ends ofthe conductor rods an, 11 are connected to the service wires of cable a3in the usual manner. Connector rods 40, ll pass clownwardly through andare spaced from the rear wall of the shoe tree by insulating blocks easecured to the rear wall or" the ankle portion of the shoe tree byscrews 45. Section A may be made in two pieces comprising an ankleportion C and a heel portion D, the heel portion D having internallyscrew threaded thickened portions 46 ad j acent the upper end of thewall thereof for screw threaded engagement of screws l? which passdownwardly through the bottoms of recesses 48 formed adjacent the loweredge of the wall of section C for securing the ankle portion t) and theheel portion D together. A handle 51, through which the service wires ofcable 43 pass and are connected to conductor rods a0, 41, is providedfor grasping with the hand to insert or re move the tree from a shoe.

ln the employment of my invention the tree is flexed or the rear or heelportion turned forwardly on the pivotal member 3? as shown in dottedlines in Fig. 3 and the section B of the shoe tree inserted downwardlythrough the top and into the toe of the shoe when the heel portion D ismoved downwardly on the pivotal member 37 contacting with the inner faceof the counter in the heel of the shoe causing a wedging actionbysect-ion A against section B, forcing section B forwardly in the toeof the shoe, thereby causing the toe of the shoe to assume its properand normal shape and maintain ing the toe of the shoe in suh proper andnormal shape during the process of drying. When the heel portion of thetree is moved forwardly as indicated in Fig. 3 the distance between therespective ends of the resistance wires 16 and 22 will he increasedowingto the difierence in position of section A with relation to section B.This increase in the distance between the resistance wires 16 and 22when the tree is flexed, as shown in Fig.

3, is provided for by the employment of helical spring members 23 and24: for connecting the ends of the respective resistance wires.

While the device as described in the specification and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings may be made of any suitable ma terial, in theinterest of lightness in weight, it is preferably made of aluminum.

it will be obvious that the shoe tree may be introduced into a shoe suchas a white shoe, for example, and a liquid cleaning material used forcleaning the shoe and the heating element within the shoe tree operatedand the shoe quickly dried.

In order that the invention mightbe understood, I have shown the detailsof the preferred embodiments of my invention, but it is not desired tobe limited to the mere details of construction, for it will be apparentthat persons skilled in the art may resort to various modificationswithout, departing from the purpose and spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A hollow shoe tree comprising two pivotally connected hollowsections, an electric heating element in each of the sections. electricconducting members in the form of helical springs connecting the heatingelements. and each of said hollow sect-ions arranged in communicationwith each other whereby the heat is evenly distributed throughout theentire shoe tree.

2. A hollow shoe tree comprising two pivotally connected hollow sectionshaving commu nicating opened ends, an electric heating element in eachof the sections, electric conducting members in the form of helicalsprings extending through the opened ends in said sections forconnecting the heating elements, whereby the entire shoe tree wlll beevenly heated throughout.

3. A hollow shoe tree comprising two pivotally related sections formedin a manner to occupy substantially the entire shoe to be dried, each ofsaid sections having opened ends adjacent their pivotal connectionswhereby said sections are in communication with each other and anelectric heating element in each section and connected with each otherthrough the opened ends in said section.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, onthis 21st day of June, A. D. 1922.

ANN G. DOYLE.

